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Well I have a new tactic tonight to avoid the munchies. I put my PJ's on at 530. LOL I so wanted chips, ice cream, whatever but none of that in the house so I thought well Walmart is close I will just take a quick drive up there. So I put my PJ's on so I won't go out of the house. LOL DH won't be home til 9 tonight and it was just more of lonely, bored munchies. Melissa, as your quote under your names says love life be brave or something like that. Be brave and face the stressors w/o the candy. It'll get easier each time. Arlene, I had never heard of epidural shots causing weight gain, interesting. I knew steroid pills did. Hope the tylenol works for you. I just got a trim but guess my hair is sortta 'bob' style. I never know the right terms either ,which is probably why I never get what I ask for LOL Just got a call from DS...HE GOT THE PROMOTION!

Glad your back....been worried about you..... Florinda I'm glad your back too, sad for your loss and proud that you sang at Larry's funeral..... the weight gain from the exercise is inflammation from working those muscles and your body is working to repair those muscles...such a process and very frustrating to see a gain after such hard work.... I actually lost a lb from yesterday most likely due to my body not being able to tolerate lactose any longer. I get stomach problems about 15 minutes after drinking it. Sorry for TMI.....But I'll take it and continue working on losing some more..

Peaches I am glad that I got you moving... For me it's all about the exercise... I did have a few cookies & tamales during the holidays - I contribute the no weight gain to the exercise. I could eat more food right now but I am really trying not to - I have been losing .5 lbs each week for the last 2 weeks and I would love to see 1 or 2 pounds gone by next Thursday... I am 1/2 lb from 60 total and I would love to lose 5 lbs by my Bday at the end of the month - it would be great to be 185 on my 53rd bday.... I don't know about the cold - since I live in the Desert - but I guess if you have enought stuff to keep you warm I would do it - last night i was watching my tivo of the clash of choirs and when they were singing Celebrate i was up dancing - and I got some weights to work my arms while i warch t.v. You go tomorrow to see if you have a leak or is it next week? I don't find that my band takes away my hunger - cuz i always have head hunger but it does help with the portion control to a degree - i don't know - i really think i could eat more food if i really wanted to - especially bad unhealthy foods. I am just totally in the zone (well 98% of the time) so i don't... I think before I put stuff in my mouth... And if you are able to exercise you should - there are so many our age and older who can't - due to all the problems from being overweight and it will help you live longer and be more youthful... (i know that word got to you :bounce:- that's the real motivator :bounce:

I did EMDR - the flashy light/sound thing. It was very focused - I think I did about 4-6 treatments and I went from having full on panic/I am back in the moment of the trauma to being able to view them as memories without a panic attack. It was life changing at that time. In my experience it helped tremendously with post traumatic stress over specific incidents but not so much with the trauma childhood as a general concept. It helped me alot but I probably won't do it again. I can share more about this later if anyone is interested. I can tell you a therapy NOT to do - called Lifespan Integration. It made me sick. My girlfriend who did it developed hives and her hair started falling out. I come to the conclusion that there are some things the subconscious isn't really ready to share with the conscious world... better left buried. Interesting about wellbutrin - I was told that is an anti-depressant that is known to trigger anxiety but clearly for you it is very effective! One of the good things is it doesn't tend to cause weight gain. Is clonazepam one of the ones they say is addictive? That "group" of drugs helps me alot but my doc will only prescribe it like 5 pills at a time to deal with a specific anxiety event like my whole breast mystery thing. One of my best friend has a doctor who prescribes that type of drug generously and she uses them daily with no apparent ill effect, but I guess the current thinking is that we will all become anti-anxiety junkies.

I asked my doctor about the pication. He is one of the best WLS surgeons in our area, and has been doing the sleeve for a long time- worked with the surgeon who developed it. He will NOT be doing the plication- he believes the problem with lack of blood flow will be common and these complications are the tip of the iceberg. I am not wanting to be a Debbie Downer, I am just relating what my doctor said. I had been very interested in the plication, as of course it seemed attractive to keep the rest of your stomach and reverse it when you reach your goal. Once he told me his feelings, along with some of the complications I have seen, I decided full heartedly on the sleeve. I also wonder, considering the fact for many of us surgery is the last resort after trying everything, if reversible surgery will mean lots of weight gain ultimately.

Hi Tina, It was me that asked about the 1200 calorie diet. I must be the only 1200 calorie reject because today I weighed myself & I apparently gained 4lbs since Tuesday - Hmmm? I think I must be geared to no carbs like you - before I started this diet I hardly ate any - even if I got a burger in the drive thru I wouldn't eat the bun & no fries - I'd have a salad with full fat dressing haha & a diet coke - out to breakfast would usually be an omelet with no hash browns or toast but I'd get tomato slices with full fat rance dressing. I was once told that once you cut carbs out of your diet you can never add them back or you will gain weight instantly - maybe that holds true for me. It could also be that I laid in bed from Thursday night till Sunday morning and did absolutely nothing due to the constant headache I had! My migraine pills (Maxalt) didn't even work - excederine took the edge off a little but then we are back to caffeine! I did walk for 45 minutes with my husband on Sunday! Today I woke up feeling fabulous! in spite of the 4lb weight gain - I am ready to rock! At 6:30 this morning my husband got up with me and power walked again for 45 minutes around the neighborhood - I ate 1/2 a chicken breast for breakfast wtih 1/2 cup green beans & 1/2 cup (60 cal) yogurt. I packed my lunch - same thing as breakfast LOL - to bring to the office with me today - helping out a friend! but I think after this I will cut out all carbs! I got a swim dress (yes a swim "DRESS") and am going to bring my fat ass to the pool tonight - I didn't make it last night! I brought it with me and am going straight there after I leave here because once I get home I know I will not go back!! Thanks, again Tina - it's a big help to know that I don't have to follow this so strickly! Hope these next 10 days go by quickly for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heather - WOW! what's your secret girlfriend?? Happy Monday ladies!!

OMG Nicole your only 25 away!! That isn't much!! your right there!! Candra I put my jeans from yesterday in the give away pile. They are comfortable but ok if your girls are saying they are to big than I have to wonder that people at work say!! LOL. They aren't as nice............so they sadly went to the give away pile. (heather I have another bag of clothes for ya now!!) My job is a huge part of the reason for the weight gain. Dr. Baggs and Liz have talked to me about this. In my field we work long hours, no lunch, lots of unpaid overtime and way to many cases and expectations for one worker. That is why since surgery I don't do OT anymore. I take my lunches and I go home at 6pm when I get off. My supervisor who is clueless is going crazy since I refuse to rescue her butt anymore like I did in the past. But I am trying to be more balanced. When I am at work I work m my butt off and I am good at what I do. But once I leave my cell phone is off and I am done. But I pretty tough around the edges. I don't put up with much crap and I can see right through people especially the drug addicts. I so have them pegged and I don't help people out who don't help themselves. I won't put more time into a client than they put into themselve. If someone want to improve than I am their best advocate and I will walk them through the process and have their back all the way. HOwever if they are playing me or lying to theirself than I am the first one to call them out on it and in a big way. I have no problem slamming someone to the wall and making their life hell for the short term to get them to wake up and face reality. We have a saying that in the social work/addiction field that we don't ever pull a bird out of their cage but we will open the door so they can come out on their own. And if they are just sitting in their with a door open doing nothing than I am have no problem shaking the hell out of the cage so it get really uncomfortable to stay inside the cage..............I am good at what I do. I just need to have a life outside of work or else the stress will make all my weight come back. Remember stress and boredom are what makes my head hunger kick in big time. Having said that I do tear up alot in my work and I am ok with that. As long as I am not crying harder than my clients than it is perfectly ok............this is exciting and sometimes frustrating work but I am good at it and like it. Never boring...........just wish the economy was better!!

No help for us. We are fat, we are gluttons, we are weak and undeserving of help, sympathy, or adequate medical care. Like Orson Wells said, “Gluttony is not a secret vice.” Do I believe that? Some days I do in fact believe it, when I’m down, and lately more because of how ill I have been. Mostly it is a load of hog wash. Fat does not equal ugly. There has long been a weird relationship with food, the body and the Christian church. And of course, we all know the impact that both Protestant and Catholic sects have had on Western Civilization… Some of the Christian based weight-loss schemes are screaming “fat people don’t go to heaven,” and “use our program based on Leviticus and you will loose weight and be closer to God!” Sorry, I’ve read Leviticus, and I am NOT eating bugs…. (I call them schemes because I think we all here have come to the understanding that “diets” are just schemes…) If you had better self-control, more self-esteem, more will-power, were a better person, loved God more…. You would lose weight and be a better person. There is no understanding for the overweight from most doctors. Before my husband had his band installed, the cardiologist said “Have you just tried cutting out sweets?” Now, on the face of it, this is good advice, advice we could all use. However, this showed a complete lack of understanding on the part of the doctor. You see, before my husband had his band installed, he weighted 596 pounds with a BMI in the high 80’s. Cutting out sweets would have certainly helped, it wouldn’t have stopped my husband from eating two or three fast-food meals at one sitting, or any of the other overeating behavior some of us know intimately, and other behaviors we are only starting to understand in ourselves and others. I am currently having difficulty with my asthma: hospitalizations, steroids, greatly reduced lung function, other things as well. What am I told? Well, just lose some weight, we aren’t going to help with this, we are just going to pass judgment on you. Sudden and unexplained weight gain? Well, just don’t eat as much… (never mind that I gained 10 pounds overnight with severe edema…). I have to suspect that part of Delarla’s current adventure with gauze might have been caught earlier if she was thin. I was told by my doctor that I just need to take up running. Yes that’s right, take up running. Can you imagine a woman with a BMI in the high 40’s running? (Please see the thread about giving one’s self black eyes…) Being fat or overweight or big boned, or under tall, or metabolically efficient or famine resistant doesn’t make us failures, bad people or jerks. We might be over sexed (skin is the largest sex organ…), but we are not failures, or bad people or jerks. If we are failures or bad people or jerks, it is independent of our weight or size.

Is there a reason you guys picked Dr. Farhan? I wasn't really sure of what surgery I wanted. I really don't want the RNY because of the dumping and weight gain. Can you feel any restriction yet?

Snuffy your advice is spot on! I have fought depression for years, ha - like since birth! Exercise really helps. I do take meds also but if I exercise they work much better and I am in a better mood. I had a real downhill snowball effect earlier in the year. I was doing relatively well at the exercise thing (crap at dieting, but that was pre-band). Not sure what I did but my back and hips (I'm hyperflexible, they pop out of place sometimes and swell) flaired up something severe and I had to start physical therapy. So I was told the only exercise I could do was what they were having me do there. A nice combiniation of pain all the time, weight gain, and not getting good cardio and I was a complete mess. I didn't start coming out of the funk again until I got over the hump of my pre-op diet and then recovered from the surgery. Back on the road to wellville now. Still having pain but of course exercise helps that too as long as I don't start thinking I am training for the Olympics again! My PCP says once I get to a weight where they'll take me seriously I can go to a sports medicine specialist. We can give each other good and correct info but you catch a lot more flies with honey as they say.

Well. I know you are not talking about me there, because as a rule, I don't give advice on band related matters. People who see the advice as harsh, tend to do so because of something lacking in their lives. Be it exercise, eating right, or following the band rules. It hits too close to home. It hurts them because they know that it could be true, that they are NOT doing whatever it is that is being talked about, and that is the cause of their weight gain / failure to lose / whatever. People then go one of two ways. They do something about it, or they do nothing but whine about why it is so tough. Why they can't. Why they are special. So yeah. Maybe the second sorts are better ignored by those who give fantastic advice. But how would one know what group they "asker" ends up in if they do hit the ignore button?

Riley 5 pounds overnight!! Seriously I want someone elses fill!! LOL. Ah have a really bad headache today. I did start taking my blood pressure meds again today and wonder if the headache is related to that. Going back to bed I think. Between the diahrea and that headache I wonder if it is the flu............ Riley maybe the weight gain was just water weight??

Boy oh boy - 9 pages to read to catch up! There has been a death in my Extended family - actually, she passed away 3:00 am last saturday morning which is why I didn't make the meeting. My Aunt is just a wreck behind it so I've been spending all my spare time with her. I'm in the same boat with alot of you - Rambo is doing his job but I'm not really doing mine - I do eat a lot less than if I didn't have the band but I can still eat the wrong food and I can still eat often. Sad part is I'm NOT hungry at all! Ever!! But my mouth has a mind of its own and just wants to taste everything! Heather: Happy belated girlfriend! Love that your mom did that for you. And since you opened that can of worms now you know you HAVE to sing for me! Missed you too TamTam: You never mentioned how it went in Tahoe - or maybe I just missed it?? How did it go? Coco - How ya feelin? That gas gone yet??? I have 2 black labs you can have - Bobo & Asia, I have two cats you can have - Cali & Bella - See how that would all work out - You can have the animals and the names you want and I can get some sleep at night JES: We need to hook up and do the damn thing! I too keep losing & gaining the same few lbs. Just can't seem to keep my mouth in check. I do so well during the days but in the evenings/nights I'm like a crack addict - gotta have my carbs. Ash - how's your son doing? Do the tubes bother him at all, can he feel them? Bridezilla was working the Monster Jam - did ya see her?? Congrats on the psyche date! TINA: I FORBID THIS GROUP TO BE SPLIT! DAMN IT! Us rookies could never make it thru without the guidence of the pro's. Sorry about all the struggles you're having with Kaiser and work. The fill recommendation list was informative - maybe we need to mail a copy to Robin. I don't agree with having to "earn" a fill. Kaiser absolutely can not take my band back - I have to allow them to do surgery on me for that and I won't do it! John - I know parting with some of the fav's are hard but don't you just feel so great now! You & Terminator have lost 10 inches in your waist?? Yee Ha! Maria - waiting to hear about that interview sister! Riley - I am so with you on the carbs - Do they have a shot or drug for that? Analynn - congrats my girlfriend! On the goal weight that is, not on your choice in men LOL. Proud of you for letting go of someone you loved - sometimes, love just isn't enough! Beverly: The port, for me, wasn't as bad as I thougt it would be - just felt like I had done way to many crunches at the gym - but it was an extended soreness - lasted about 8 weeks. Pammie: I agree with you about the after care & support. I feel that there should be a therapist that specializes in food addiction available. Reggie - Yes! We need to find the underlying causes of the weight gain. For me, I think its clear that I'm an addict. I am obsessed with food. Let me repeat this: I am NOT hungry at all! but yet & still I'm obsessing over food 24/7. No idea why or how to stop it but i am. I love Rambo because he will actually HALT me. He will refuse the food I put in him if I try to go overboard - I would love to know if the sleeve does that at all?? Girl with the band problem - so sorry I didn't write down your name!! Sounds like maybe you've slipped your band?? I don't really know what that feels like but what you are describing just sound off beat for the band!

Sorry I haven't been on much but no, there was no weight gain issue, i just chickened out TWICE, now I'm bigger than ever so it's time to get sleeved!

Thank you SO much!!! :mad: My anxiety is through the roof right now. Not only am I worried about my insurance approving this procedure, but I feel I can't talk to my doctor about it since he is reluctant to do the procedure due to the amount of weight I loss on my own. All I did was follow the diet the nutritionist gave me to a T and exercised like a maniac. I hardly thought I'd lose 20 pounds in 6 months (for insurance approval), so I tried really hard.... now I am stressing over it. So frustrating. I am working with my therapist on these issues too. It's nice to have the opinions of those who have actually been where I have been though(the dieting, weight gain, etc.). That's why I posted. I needed support of those who can relate to what I am going through-- 17 years of obesity. Thank you again!!! Now it's time for me to take some deep breaths and just see what happens. Amy

@@K-Lynn because it is a starchy carbohydrate and it will lead to weight gain. Also, many overweight folks are addicted to carbs and sugar, both in breads...My surgeon has all his patients avoid all starchy carbs (breads, pastas, potatoes, rice) until they have reached their goal/maintenance weight. By that time you should be more in control of your eating and if you start to gain weight, hopefully you have learned tools to get it back off quickly.

Oh Nicole that SO SUCKS!!! Jeez did they jack you around long enough or WHAT??? Going to try and stay on no carbs today and LOTS of water/liquids to see if I can get rid of this crap that I put back on camping! yes it was a TON of fun, but not sure it was worth the weight gain! If it comes back off easy then it was; but it took me so long to lose it that I don't want to go through akk that again! Then it will be NOT worth it.

Hello 'Rich'mond Ladies! Finally got some down time...been working and bummin.. Reggie honey u are doing so well, I am just sad I did not get to meet u before surgery, because I wont have anything to compare u with, you are already lookin good! LOL As far as the weight gain, pay no attention to the body on the scale, because it is still healin, recuping and ridding yourself of iv fluids, gas and all from surgery. Just concentrate on walking, water and westin (rest), the weight willll come off! Also remember your body is still adjusting...the stomach, its acids and foods...my stomach would be a grumblin, and growlin so loud, I would go where there was loud music, for it not to be heard! lolol Just stay on the meal plan given from Robin. Something I just learned, did you know that our bodies growl for 'lack of water' too? Hope this helps... Ok for the land of lurkers...I am one too, and although I dont always post (only long ones, lolol, sorry, I am Italian and talk with MY HANDS, lol), I read every post on our thread, and I am so inspired, I have an Omron pedometer (the best kind!) and this morn, I got up and walked...over 5,000 steps...it was beautiful! Riley, what a good new addiction to have! Candra, you go girl with them hills! (They would be mountains to me), By the way, for us shorter ladies, there is where we benefit, I think we get more steps with our shorter strides. lol Oh, then on the way home stopped at neighbor's Garagle Sale... and bought a BRAND new pair of "Heelies" for $5. perfect size! One of my goals is to learn to roller blade with my guyz...so this will be a start (I pray I don't hurt myself, lol) Ok enough for now...Proteiners!

Hey ladies.....I know long time no hear!!!! Been so busy......no excuse!!!! I emailed Donna today...I feel lost.....my eating has gotten out of hand.....I eat whatever I want and I eat till I'm so full. i'm scared that I have stretched my band...yet I still do it...I'm so scared... I feel lost.....I'm down to 183 so no weight gain but its coming...I haven't weighed myself since before Christmas so I probably have gained a little but this started before Christmas....any advise ladies I need help.....I don't want this to all be a waste.....maybe already is...HELp......I miss you guys.......I got to side tracked with going back to my regular life.......It can't ever be regular...right

In my experience, end of year 2 is when I first had some weight gain. It seems like that is when the last of the sleeve magic wore off for me. The years after that were just like normal non-sleeve for gaining/losing weight (which I did several times). Capacity increased a lot too.